Are aluminum radiators better? I've never owned one, so I can't say. Here's what I do know. When I bought my 225 powered 74 Duster two years ago, it had an aftermarket crappy radiator in it. Since I love the factory stock look, I found a correct original radiatior for the Duster at a salvage yard. These radiators are surprisingly difficult to find. Anyhow, I had a talented radiator guy here in Minneapolis completely rebuild it. He hot tanked and disassembled it, resoldered everything and installed a new two row high efficiency copper core. I declined the three row core as he said it wasn't factory stock, and also was unnecessary. He was right. I installed it with a new FSM spec 195 degree Stant Super Stat, all new MOPAR hoses with correct spring clamps, a new copper heater core and new water pump. Charged it all with the correct 50/50 Prestone mix. It runs perfectly, reliably and leak free, and never gets over 195 degrees even on the hottest days - all without a fan shroud. All the math and physics about heat transfer between aluminum and copper that I read here is correct, I'm sure. But does it really make any difference in your car. Nope. The stock factory ones are just fine. Chrysler used brass tank/copper core radiators for decades, as did all the other manufacturers. Thousands and thousands of aircraft in World War Two used them with great success. So do you really need to change to an aluminum radiator in your ride in August of 2018? No, unless you like the look, or the weight savings. Like anything else MOPAR, if it's installed, set up and maintained correctly with fresh clean coolant, your vintage radiator will be just fine. I try not to think about this stuff too much. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Comments?
